Workers Log More Than 1,000 Hours of OT

ELMIRA (WENY) -- Elmira work crews have been out since Thursday piecing the city back together, and all that work has added up to more than a thousand hours of overtime.

According to the city's Department of Public Works, employees have put in more than 1,000 hours of OT as of Monday. Those hours don't reflect the work of state DOT workers or highway crews from Chemung or Steuben Counties.

All city DPW workers were required to work 12-hour shifts during the state of emergency. Department leaders say those long days are no longer mandated, but many workers are still sticking around to make sure the job gets done.

"We're still a long ways to go but I think everyone's morale is still pretty good," says street supervisor, Shawn Crater. "We should have no problem getting this done within the next few weeks."

Crater says after clean up projects are finished, the next task is to fix damaged sidewalks and roads in Elmira. The 1,100 hours of OT does not include extra work for police officers or firefighters, but Fire Chief Patrick Bermingham says his department was back to normal by early Friday morning.

Mayor Sue Skidmore says she'll a better idea of how much the OT will run the city in about two to three weeks.